'Conan' Falls Flat in Season 1

In a bid to boost its flagging audience, cable channel TBS is doubling down on making Conan O'Brien the face of its network, investing in new programming to flank his late-night show, despite his declining ratings. Lauren Schuker has details.

By

Lauren A.E. Schuker

August 18, 2011

TBS's pricey
Conan O'Brien
experiment is flopping—and is about to get even more expensive.

When the cable network hired Mr. O'Brien for more than $12 million per year in 2010, TBS executives hailed late night as its "next land of opportunity" and Mr. O'Brien as the "building block" to a network-wide revival.

In the nine months since "Conan"'s debut, TBS has canceled its only other late-night show,
George Lopez's
"Lopez Tonight," and viewership of "Conan" has tumbled, by about 60% since its high-profile debut last fall.

Despite Mr. O'Brien's shrinking audience, TBS is doubling down on the red-haired comedian, paying for costly programming in an attempt to protect its investment.

TBS airs mostly a mix of original sitcoms such as
Tyler Perry's
"House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns," sprinkled with reruns of hit comedies such as "Home Improvement" and "The Office."

The
Time Warner
Inc.
-owned channel has seen its viewership among 18- to 49-year-olds fall 11% this past television season compared to the previous one—despite Mr. O'Brien's addition last fall. Viewership among those 18 to 34 years old fell by 10.8% over the same time period.

ENLARGE

To win back viewers, TBS next month will start airing repeats of hit comedy "The Big Bang Theory" as a lead-in to "Conan" two nights a week—at a reported cost of $2 million an episode.

The network is also developing several new original television shows to complement "Conan," including "The Wedding Band," about a group of friends who perform together at weddings.

"We want TBS to be a leading comedy brand,"
Steve Koonin,
president of Time Warner's Turner Entertainment Networks, which includes TBS, said in an interview. The company is still working on fleshing out its strategy. "How we get to that destination we don't have 100 percent mapped out today," Mr. Koonin added.

TBS canceled "Lopez Tonight" last week citing poor ratings and a lack of profitability. The show's nightly audience fell by 40% in its second season to about 546,000 people.

The audience for "Conan," has fallen from about 2.4 million in the show's first month on air in 2010 to roughly 958,000 people this past July, according to Nielsen Co. data.

Mr. O'Brien trails all major competitors on broadcast and cable during his 11 p.m. time slot. In certain weeks, he's also fallen behind newer faces such as
Chelsea Handler.

In July, Mr. O'Brien averaged about 685,000 viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, placing him behind cable competitors such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart as well as broadcast rivals Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman and Jay Leno.

Compared to his major competitors, Mr. O'Brien is only ahead of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel and CBS's Craig Ferguson, who begin their broadcasts at midnight and 12:35 a.m.

When Mr. O'Brien hosted "The Tonight Show" in the last half of 2009 through early 2010, Mr. O'Brien drew, on average, 2.9 million viewers, about half of whom were between the ages of 18 and 49 years old.

Television executives say that Mr. O'Brien's ratings problem lies in part with his niche appeal. His act relies more on extended sketches that venture into absurd territory rather than punch lines ripped from the news or pure political and cultural satire. His biting, self-deprecating style, which often involves bizarre gestures or movements such as his famous "string dance," tends to resonate more with younger viewers.

When he was at NBC, the company's executives at times urged him to broaden his act, according to a person familiar with the matter.

TBS has already committed to a second season of Mr. Conan's show, suggesting the network will stand by him at least through the end of 2012.

TBS said that Mr. O'Brien continues to attract advertisers because he draws young viewers. According to TBS, the median age of his audience—32 years old—remains the youngest among the late-night talk shows. TBS also said that many of his viewers watch the show online, and don't register in television ratings. His video segments and episodes on his website, teamcoco.com, surpass more than 1 million views each week.

Earlier

"Conan personifies the smart funny tone that we want TBS to have," Mr. Koonin said, noting that "Conan" earned several Emmy nominations this year. "His program is the signature show of our line-up and the centerpiece of our network."

Mr. O'Brien left NBC in early 2010 after a high-profile fight with NBC brass over his time slot. TBS then swooped in, eventually striking a five-year pact that guaranteed the first two seasons of his show.

TBS has not yet picked up the third season, which would air from late 2012 through late 2013. Negotiations could start as soon as within the next six months.

TBS has already invested a sizable sum in the comedian. According to people close to the situation, he is making more at TBS than he earned at NBC, where he was paid around $12 million a year. A spokeswoman for TBS declined to comment on Mr. O'Brien's compensation.

"Both sides are extremely happy with the other and I don't see any reason why this relationship wouldn't continue for a very long time," said
Gavin Polone,
Mr. O'Brien's manager. Mr. Koonin added: "I hope we have this relationship until we both retire." Mr. O'Brien couldn't be reached for comment.

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